Synopsis

The film picturizes the life-time career of Austria’s greatest pop star ever, Johann Hölzel, better known as Falco. As one of the precursors for white hip-hop artists around the world, he was also famous as a fashion icon during the 1980s. Falco remains the only German-speaking artist who has ever landed a Number One Hit with his hit single “Rock Me Amadeus” on the American billboard charts up until today. The biopic covers his life story from his childhood to the discovery of his musical talent, his first stage appearances with Viennese bands such as “Hallucination Company” and “Spinning Wheel” to his gigantic breakthrough as an internationally successful artist around the globe. Falco’s complex character, his escape into drugs, and fatal sexual affairs draw a picture of a sensitive man in the rough. In the end, he was unable to cope with the enormous success of his music and the parallel tragedies of his private life. Falco’s sudden and unexpected death on February 6th, 1998, during a car accident in the Dominican Republic has made him a legend. Ten years after his death, this film remembers him as Austria’s greatest pop star.

Director

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  • Thomas Roth
  • Born in 1965 in Graz, Austria. From 1985 to 1994, he worked as a music editor for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and then directed TV programs, documentaries, and music videos. He has also produced several TV movies. He made his feature film debut with Vienna Murder Mystery (1997), which was nominated for the Max Ophüls Award in 1998. Thomas Roth first met Falco in 1985 when he was a reporter for the Austrian radio station, and they met frequently thereafter. The film Falco is the result of his deep affection for him.